“Want to have your ears pierced?” I asked Elsa, my newly turned five-year-old. Her eyes grew wide and she shook her head back and forth.

“No, mommy! It’ll hurt. And it seems scary. No, thank you.”

We had discussed having her ears pierced several times. Every time she said the same thing, she was too scared. Every time, I felt a tiny twinge of sadness. I couldn’t wait to buy her earrings, to share my love of jewelry with my little girl.